I grew up in VA hunting and fishing National Forest and private land. Now that my permanent residence is in NC, I'm still hunting National Forest and private leased land. Can you guys, that TRY to hunt WMA's, explain to me what a WMA is and is this land public or State owned property?
What part of NC? SE corner here. Our version of a WMA is called a Gameland in NC.
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Yes they are public. Some have quota type permit hunts. Some parts of them are state owned, some parts leased from entities such as the Nature Conservancy, large utility corps and so on.
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Wildlife management area. Conservation area game lands, all forms of public lands, regs can vary vastly from one to another and state to state!
Some states have site specific tags and regs others have state wide regs for most.
Find some locally and contact them directly!
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WMA equal Wildlife Management Area.
Most are leased/bought with fees from fishing and hunting licenses. Some are state owned some are leased from private landowners. These are different than walk in hunting areas, more permanent.
Some are for both fishing & hunting, some are fishing only.
Many have regs specific to that area. Like camping or no camping, a special permit to hunt the area and that may be just species specific....In other words an example...to hunt deer you need a draw permit but anyone can hunt small game.
Some are closed during certain times of the year, usually spring to let wildlife be unmolested during breeding and rearing. Some will close in late winter to relieve stress on game from bad weather.
Most states I am familiar with have a pamphlet or something listing the special regs for certain WMA's. If a WMA is not mentioned in the special regs then there isn't any special rules. Best to double check tho.
Tree Rooster, very nice.
I can only add, in WV some WMA require a permit to trap on. And, require a catch summary of trapping after season close.
Other than that, it has been covered above. Check the regs for EACH WMA you may hunt.
Thanks for the responses. I thought I had the right idea about WMA's. According to what I am hearing and reading about WMA's, they are, as suspected, National Forest/Gamelands (mostly Federal / PUBLIC land) that State Governments have been given permission (by the Federal Government) TO MANAGE. Here is the problem as I see it. Many State Governments/Wildlife Offices are using this PERMISSION to heavy handedly create a CASH COW / Employment opportunity under the BANNER of Wildlife Management. The States that are doing this, think they are managing Wildlife but are only HEAPING rules, regulations and taxes on something that only needs 1 thing, monitoring the population and setting harvest numbers PERIOD! Most States are using this to pad their BOTTOM line with fees that have the Sportsman pulling their HAIR out because they can't UTILIZE Public Land, for the most part, for what it's intended purpose is, to enjoy hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities on land that have been set aside by the Federal Government for this purpose. It is imperative that we fight back against these State Governments and not allow them to push THEIR agenda on us. I'm very FORTUNATE to have a State that doesn't meddle, charge HIGH license fees, have draw fees and overregulate a PUBLIC resource. If you want this to change, WE have to FIGHT TYRANNY at every level just as our Forefathers did.
Quote from: bbcoach on March 23, 2025, 07:21:56 AMThanks for the responses. I thought I had the right idea about WMA's. According to what I am hearing and reading about WMA's, they are, as suspected, National Forest/Gamelands (mostly Federal / PUBLIC land) that State Governments have been given permission (by the Federal Government) TO MANAGE.
No you got it wrong.
WMA's are state owned or leased by the state. Most, IME, are funded with hunting and fishing license fees.
Coach, We're in the same state, but I'm sad to say there ARE plenty of draw hunts where the state collects $$ from each applicant. It's not a lot of money, but given the large number of applications, it adds up. I am confident the public management areas near me are quite popular, because they are close to metropolitan areas. I also know they get a lot of interest, because I have been applying to turkey hunt the gamelands closest to me, yet have never been selected in any of the 12 years I have applied. I have covered a lot of that land because I love to wander, but also in the hopes that I will get drawn one of these days. One of my best friends failed to get drawn this year in any of the four public draws he applied for.
I understand the value of having draw hunts to control hunting pressure on the turkey population. Unregulated hunting would knock the turkeys back to what it was before restocking occurred. The increased popularity of hunting turkeys has added additional pressure from out of state hunters. I can't blame anyone for wanting to extend/expand their turkey season. But all those interests attempting to draw limited hunting slots means that more hunters are turned away disappointed than get to hunt. These hunts are limited to Thursday, Friday, Saturday only with a maximum of 40 hunters per week, or 120 hunters per season.
For the record, I was drawn to hunt a different large area of gamelands 30 miles from here that I lived near 30 years ago. Advanced knowledge and plenty of pre-season scouting helped me learn exacly where I was going to hunt. When my slot dates came around, we had torrential rains from a tropical system that parked over the area and absolutely poured rain all 3 days. I hunted as hard as I could, but all I got was wet...I can't imagine the turkeys enjoyed it any more than I did.
Whatever, it is like buying a lottery ticket. A draw selection earns you the right to access a great public resource. Although I've never been drawn to hunt my favorite public parcel, I know that money will go to manage and help game regulation enforcement on those and other public gamelands. So, it's kind of a win even if you don't get exactly what you're after. Law of averages will catch up one day, I suppose?
Jim
States Rights issue. States have absolute right to manage WMAs within their state.
Most are on state land anyway. Few are national forest.
WMA = state owned or run
National Forest-Federal owned and run UNLESS they are run by the state as a WMA
Appalachicola is both a National Forest as well as a WMA in Florida. The logging, burning, camping, maintenance, etc is done by the Feds and the hunting is regulated by the State (9 day quotas, dog vs still hunt areas etc).